Ever since the brief but fierce war between India and China in 1962, the worldâs two most populousÂ countries have been observing an uneasy truce and keeping their border dispute in a deep freeze. Fifty-five years later, there has been a Himalayan thaw â and the cause is not just global warming.

When they met in Beijing in 1988 Deng Xiaoping and Rajiv Gandhi decided not to fix something that ainât broke, and instead decided to adhere to the unwritten understanding to let the 3,000km Himalayan arc separate their spheres of influence. This pact has been robust enough to withstand numerous skirmishes along disputed borders in Arunachal, Ladakh and Bhutan, the fact that the Dalai Lama resides in India, and a lingering distrust between the two nuclear nations; until now.

Something changed after the new administration took over in Washington, and especially after the famous bear hug administered by Narendra Modi on Donald Trump at the White House last month. There are now geo-strategic rumblings along the Sino-Indian Himalayan border. China feels increasingly encircled, relations with Burma and Singapore have soured somewhat, the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea are unstable.

Beijing and New Delhi used to go out of their way not to irritate each other, but lately they are doing just the opposite. China has been preparing carefully for the post-Dalai Lama era, and could feel it expedient to keep the pot boiling. Modiâs India could feel the need to perform a war dance for domestic purposes.

Whatever the reasons, it is mystifying why the latest flashpoint is the disputed Doklam Plateau near the Bhutan-China-India tri-junction in the Chumbi Valley, which itself is astride Indiaâs strategic Chicken Neck corridor. The timing of this flare-up 150km away from a violent statehood agitation in Darjeeling is also intriguing. The dispute has also been a rude awakening for happy little Bhutan, the only neighbouring country with which Beijing has no diplomatic ties.

Nepal cannot be unconcerned about these tensions so close to our eastern flank. Those who are secretly delighted that Bhutan is getting caught up in this clash of the Titans may bear reminding that although Â Bhutan may depend on India for defence and foreign affairs, Nepali nationals are deployed by the Indian Army on the frontlines. As in 1962, thousands of Indian Gorkha soldiers could be killed if the Doklam tension escalated into another Himalayan war. We are forced to think about the anomalous and incongruous state of affairs where nationals of one country serve in the military of another which is a foe of least two of its friendly neighbours.

India and China benefit from the fact that there is a 1,500 km mountainous border between them that they donât need to guard because Nepal is a buffer state. And it is in Nepalâs national interest that this conflict does not escalate. The sabre-rattling by the media on both sides is deafening. It has degenerated to the point where Indian TV is now countering belligerent prose on Chinaâs semi-official Global Times in the use of racist epithets. Going by the Indian and Chinese social networks, war has already broken out.

New Delhi and Beijing need to put the Himalaya back into the deep freeze. Both countries have bigger things to worry about.

Nepal is still a patriarchy. Girls are discriminated against within families, communities and society. Men from privileged castes dominate decision-making, they are disproportionately represented in the cabinet, the executive branch, the civil service and also in senior positions in the private sector. Men sit where it matters.

Yet, there are winds of change blowing across Nepalâs gender landscape. Nepalâs President, Speaker of Parliament and Chief Justice are all women, and nearly a third of Parliament is female. And now, the feminisation of Nepali politics is trickling down to the grassroots through new constitutionally-mandated quotas for women candidates in local elections.

With 90 % of the votes counted from the 14 May elections as we go to press, women have won 4 of the mayorships and 65 of the vice-mayoral in races to municipal councils. Women also won 8 of village council chairs and 263 vice-chairs, and 2,598 of ward memberships. The vice-mayors in all four metropolitan cities where ballot papers are still being counted are sure to be women as well.

Compared to the total number of male candidates this may not seem like much, but it represents a revolution in the way many new villages, municipalities and cities will be governed from now on. This election is putting Dalit women not just in policy-making positions, but also making them responsible for implementation. Nowhere else in Asia has this gender shift in governance been as dramatic, and it is the most vivid indication yet of the inclusiveness promised in the new constitution.

Letâs zoom in on the Hupsekot Village of Nawalparasi district. Laxmi Pandey of the NC became the first village council chair to be elected in last weekâs election. But it didnât end there. The vice chair is also a woman: Kopila Malla of the UML. By voting women from two different parties to the highest offices in their village council, the people of Hupsekot have demonstrated their confidence in female leadership.

Even conservative Jumla, which is still steeped in patriarchal values, made history last week by elected social activist Kantika Sejuwal of the NC as the countryâs first female mayor. After the votes were counted it was another woman, Apsara Devi Neupane, of the Maoist-Centre who was elected deputy mayor in Jumla.

As more results come in, more women are being added to decision-making positions at the local level. There are twice as many candidates in the second phase of elections in 14 June, and this trend is expected to continue.

All this has been made possible by the provision in the new constitution mandating that every Ward Council must have a woman and a Dalit member. Parties were required to field a woman candidate in either the head or deputy in metropolitan, municipal and village councils.

Yet, there are places like Jumla and Hupsekot where both the head and deputy are both female. Some gender rights activists had complained before the polls that the female and Dalit quotas were âtokenismâ. But the new Constitution is turning out to be a spectacular surprise â signifying a major shift in gender power balance in Nepalâs political history.

It is only now becoming clear how close Nepal and its democracy had come to a fatal plunge last week as the executive and the judiciary faced each other off at the edge of the cliff. Showing a singular lack of appreciation of what they wereÂ doing, the coalition led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and prime-minister-in-waiting Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress arm-twisted (some say, tricked) one-fourths of Parliament into signing an impeachment motionÂ against Chief Justice Sushila Karki.

Never before in Nepalâs turbulent history, not even in the bad old days of the absolute monarchy, was the judiciary dealt such a severe knock. The fact that two alpha males of Nepali politics went for a constitutional instrument of last resort just because their fragile egos were dented, exposed just how shallow their commitment to democracy is. Going against every principle of the separation of powers, the executive branch got a lapdog legislature to hound the judiciary.

Deuba was willing to sacrifice his country, the future of our democracy because his feelings were hurt. The Supreme Court had ruled in favour of Nabaraj Silwal and against his nominee for police chief, Jaya Bahadur Chand. Prime Minister Dahal himself had no love lost for Chief Justice Karki because of her rulings on wartime crimes, and allowed Deuba to shoot himself in the foot. But by blatantly undermining a judiciary which has played an activist role on transitional justice cases, the coalition elicited sharp criticism from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) among others.

The Supreme Court ruled on a writ petition on 30 April to reinstateÂ Chief Justice Karki. Since then, both the coalition partners as well as the judiciary have pulled back from the edge â probably with the intention of not letting the dispute disrupt the first phase of local elections on 14 May. Parliament has been suspended till after elections and the impeachment motion shelved for now. The Chief Justice, for her part, has reportedly said she will not hear any more cases till she retires next month.

This unnecessary crisis had added another element of uncertainty to local elections, but now that both sides have pulled back voting will go ahead in three of the six provinces on Sunday. There is considerable anticipation among Nepalis that the first local body election in two decades will finally usher in an era of development and inclusion.

This is the first election under the new constitution and the new village and municipal councils will have far more decentralised decision-making on local revenue generation and budget than the VDCs and DDCs ever had. The nearly 4,000 VDC boundaries were designed for an age when Nepal was largely roadless and there was poor connectivity. The Maoists decimated elected VDC representatives during the conflict, and Deuba during his second tenure as prime minister cancelled scheduled local elections in 2002. Now, the new 481 village, 246 municipal 17 metropolitan councils have the economic and political autonomy to use their economies of scale to fast-track development.

We have seen how the three-party political syndicateÂ in the absence of elected local bodies has pocketed development grants, plundered riversÂ and forestsÂ with political protection over the past decades.Â There is now a danger that the politico-criminal nexus that profited from the lack of grassroots accountability is now fielding candidates for village and municipal councils. Combined with the enhanced decision-making powers of local councils, this could spell disaster.

Our only hope is that people at the local level are far more aware of who the crooks are, and willÂ judge wisely when they enter the voting booth on Sunday.

The impeachment process against Chief Justice Sushila KarkiÂ by the governing coalition this week has plunged Nepal into another political crisis, thrown impending elections into doubt, and may even lead to a constitutional void in January 2018 if those polls cannot be held.

The main responsibility for this act of utter irresponsibility lies with the Nepali Congress under the leadership of its three-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who wants to be prime minister again when (or, if) Pushpa Kamal Dahal steps down. Deuba had no love lost for Chief Justice Karki despite the fact that she was close to the Koirala clan while growing up in Biratnagar. In fact, Karkiâs husband Durga SubediÂ was a member of the team that hijacked a Royal Nepal Airlines plane carrying a stash of cash to Kathmandu, landing it in India to use the money to fund the partyâs pro-democracy campaign.

It is indeed this countryâs great misfortune that a party that was once a respected member of the international social democratic movement, led several successful pro-democracy campaigns, one whose leaders have sacrificed their lives for an open society, the rule of law and the separation of powers, should be the one that is dealing this unprecedented and possibly fatal blow to Nepalâs democracy.

The latest sign that the NC has abandoned its remit was that party General Secretary Sashank Koirala (son of the great BP) said last month that âthe judiciary should be answerable to parliamentâ. A cabal within the NC was getting increasingly irritated by the fact that one of their own was, as Chief Justice, passing judgments in the Surpeme Court against the partyâs interests.

The NC was conspicuously muted in its criticism of Lokman Singh Karkiâs abuse of authority after his appointment in 2013. It was only when the former CIAA chief started hounding the top political leadership last year that Parliament lodged an impeachment motion which the NC reluctantly supported. But since then, several verdicts by the Supreme Court have directly challenged the party, the latest being Karkiâs ruling to stay the appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand as police chief and the appointment of Nabaraj Silwal to the post.

Chief Justice Karki may be accused of overstepping her jurisdiction or overlooking Silwalâs own qualifications, but there were strong indications that Chand was being promoted over more experienced colleagues due to direct intervention by Sher Bahadur Deuba. Silwalâs writ in the Supreme Court was being heard on 2 May, and it seems to be no coincidence that the impeachment motion was registered late in the evening of 30 April so that Justice Karki would automatically have to step down.

But Sushila Karki did not go meekly away. Her last verdict, an hour or so before the impeachment motion was lodged up the road in Parliament on Sunday, was to find three ex-IGPs guilty in a kickback scam involving the purchase of armoured personnel carriers for Nepali UN peacekeepers in Sudan. She had showed similar gumption last year, at a time when most politicians were cowering and the media had been silenced, by ruling against the appointment of Lokman Singh Karki. In fact, the Supreme Court acted even while Parliament waffled on carrying through with the impeachment motion.

The irony of all this, of course, is that the same Parliament that started an impeachment motion against one Karki (Lokman) has now tried to hound out another Karki (Sushila). Yet the background to the two impeachment proceedings within six months couldnât be more different. One was notorious for the abuse of authority that he was supposed to be vigilant about, the other was a fearless, independent and incorruptible judge who was the embodiment of Lady Justice in Nepal.

Other factors were also at play to hasten the impeachment motion. Deuba just couldnât handle the fact that a woman his party was close to was standing up to him. His fragile ego was hurt, and he might have believed rumours that Karki was hauling him in for contempt of court. There were also several other verdicts on corruption cases that the Supreme Court was ruling on before Karki retired in June that would have been damaging to the party.

Deuba found a willing partner in Prime Minister Dahal, who had been alarmed by a recent Supreme Court order to arrest Bal Krishna DhungelÂ for his complicity in a war-time murder case. And the Nepal Army could have been spooked by her ruling on the Maina SunarÂ murder in which several officers were implicated.

Clearly, Karki had ruffled a lot of feathers. It may just be that she was too honest and too impervious to threats and intimidation for the corrupt political cartel that runs this country to tolerate. The executive and legislative branches have now brought down the remaining pillar in Nepalâs democracy that was still standing upright, the judiciary. Now, there is only the press left.

The novelist Amitav Ghosh published his most recent non-fiction, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, before Donald Trump and his merry bunch of climate refuseniks assumed power in Washington. Yet, the key message of his book about the nature of empire in an age of globalisation that is driven by populism and climate denial is eerily prophetic.

Climate change negotiations like the 2015 Paris Agreement threaten the global power status quo, and voters in some western democracies are convinced that this will result in an erosion of their power and wealth. Global disparities have widened in the post-colonial world. But to attain true climate justice, industrialised countries would need to cut their emissions by 80-90%, something that is politically untenable for petroleum addicts.

Since he was so accurate in predicting how climate denialism in America could lead to someone-like-Trump, we have to believe Ghosh when he draws a parallel between the carbon economy and militarism. The irony is that while the political-corporate complex in Washington backpedals on the environment, the American military sees increased instability around the world due to global warming. It is addressing the new challenge of âgreen securityâ through greater surveillance of environmental activists and an âarmed lifeboatâ mentality.

âCorporations and energy billionairesâ are funding research to sow confusion about anthropomorphic climate change so that the corporate media underplays the dangers of warming by trying to be âbalancedâ. Such false equivalence has parallels in the way the US media covered Trump during the election campaign last year. Ghosh wrote these lines at a time when a Trump victory was not even a remote possibility: âThe denial and disputing of scientific findings has become a major factor in the climate politics of the Anglosphere.â

Ghosh sees the laissez-faire philosophy of the pursuit of individual happiness that underpins Anglo-Saxon cultures as central to the climate crisis. Although he may be accused of extrapolating a bit, there is merit in the argument that âthe rate of climate denial tends to be unusually highâ in the US, UK and Australia. It is the Anglosphere that is driving the global carbon economy of the anthropocene to protect the western âway of lifeâ. Ghosh acknowledges that official denialism in these countries exist in direct contradiction to a growing citizenâs movement and global environmental activism.

The grip of fossil barons on the new US administration is so strong that it has failed to see the potential to make money from renewables. Under public opinion pressure, the Nordics are weaning themselves off petroleum: new car sales in Norway will be 100- per-cent zero emission by 2025, and one breezy day last July Denmark produced 140 per cent of the electricity it needs from wind farms and exported the surplus to neighbours. China has discovered that âgreenâ is not just synonymous with environment but also with âgreenbacksâ, and is already the worldâs largest exporter of wind turbines, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaics. Under Trump, America risks being left behind in the global race for green energy. India, for its part, will soon be the worldâs largest emitter of greenhouse gases and is relying on what Ghosh calls the âpolitics of attritionâ â the argument that the poor are more used to adapting to hardships than the rich. Ghosh forces us to think about the links between a world burning hydrocarbon energy to provide carbohydrate energy for 7 billion humans.

The less compelling chapters in The Great Derangement deal with Ghoshâs somewhat intricate attempt to unravel why novelists do not write about climate change. He asks: Where is the fiction about the facts of global warming? Readers may question why this navel gazing is even needed, except for an esoteric class in Contemporary English Literature. Ghosh admits that he himself has failed to incorporate in his novels the geological scale of the changes humans have wrought during the anthropocene. âThe climate crisis is also a crisis of culture, and thus of the imagination,â he writes, âintimately linked with the wider histories of imperialism and capitalism that have shaped the world.â

Trumpâs efforts to roll back Obama-era gains on climate action show how fast politics can move. Global warming is also much more rapid than scientists predicted, with the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere crossing 406 ppm this month. Perhaps Ghosh needs to bring out a new edition of The Great Derangement, because however dire his prognosis, it has already been overtaken by events.

In 1998, after India conducted its first underground nuclear bomb test, Ghosh wrote a slim volume of non-fiction titled Countdown on how fallout from a full nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would contaminate the Himalayan icecap, turning rivers that irrigate half of Asia radioactive. A future update of Derangement could look at the accelerated deposition of soot from coal and diesel burning in the subcontinent, hastening the melting of Himalayan glaciers in Asiaâs water tower.

It is hard to believe that it has already been two years since an earthquake devastated Central Nepal, leaving nearly 9,000 people dead, more than 2 million homeless and a country in a state of shock. Although the loss of life and destruction was tragic, Nepal got off lightly. Only 14 of the countryâs 75 districts were affected, the frequency and duration of the shock waves meant that concrete structures were spared, and 25 April 2015 beingÂ SaturdayÂ saved thousands of school children.

There were important lessons we could have learnt about preparedness for the inevitable Even Bigger One. Post-earthquake reconstruction provided the perfect opportunity to reverse the out-migration of young men. Political parties had the chance to prove that they had the welfare of Nepalis foremost in their minds. The aftermath of the earthquake should have shaken us enough for parliament to finally set up the Disaster Management Authority to deal with future calamities. We squandered it all.

Relief and rescue could have been better managed if there were elected local councils accountable to the people. Finally, there is a glimmer of hope that we may have elections onÂ 14 MayÂ for village, district and municipal bodies. But as the second anniversary approaches, there isnât much more to add to a similar editorial we wrote last year in this spaceÂ on the first anniversary.

The only difference is that the lack of urgency on the part of the state is even more glaring. Mired in politics and competition to take credit for relief, political parties have cancelled themselvesÂ out â leaving the people to largely fend for themselves. The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has been bogged down by the NC and UML taking turns to oust and induct their own chiefs.

The NRA headed by Govind Pokharel got off to a fine start in 2015, and won the confidence of donors. But after it came to power, the UML replaced him with its own flunkie. Pokharel was recently reinstated, but he is being made to jump through hoops by political appointees within the NRA.

The agency has become a convenient lightning rod for blame, to let a lethargic government machinery off the hook. The NRA has only a coordinating role, and needs a nod from the Ministry of Finance for every paisa; all reconstruction work is coursed through other ministries where there is little coordination. In a candid interview last week, Pokharel told us that this was not the NRA he hadÂ envisaged in the 2015 Post Disaster Needs Assessment report.Â We endorse his call for the NRA to be able to manage its own funds.

And speaking of funds, Nepal has actually received less than a third of the $9.38 billion the NRA estimated it needed to rebuild homes, public buildings and infrastructure. Of the $4.1 billion pledged by donors in 2015, only $2.73 billion has actually materialised (most of it in loans). This is not even enough for the housing grant of Rs 300,000 per family, which itself is inadequate to rebuild. The NRA has come up with a new affordable design, but there seems little interest.

The main takeaway on the second anniversary is: International help has fallen far short of pledges and is much less than the amount actually needed, a lot of it is not going through the NRA, and (as in other spheres of development) the government has failed in coordination.

Only in Nepal perhaps does the leader of the fourth-largest party in parliament who was just installed as Deputy Prime Minister sit on the asphalt in protest. Photographs this week show Kamal Thapa with a befuddled Nepal Army bodyguard behind him confronting riot police who later fired tear gas and baton charged supporters of his RPP.

Thapa was there to challenge the Election Commission refusing to accept his partyâs manifesto that calls for the restoration of a Hindu monarchy in Nepal. It was no coincidence that the RPP protest this week came right after the dramatic power consolidation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiâs BJP in state elections last week, and the installation of a saffron chief minister in Uttar Pradesh. It just went to prove that there must be some truth to the apocryphal adage that when it rains in New Delhi a politician in Kathmandu unfurls an umbrella.

After the BJP came to power in 2014, there has been an epic struggle between Modiâs advisers in the PMO and the Indian foreign policy establishment for policy and control. Some of that is also a result of strained relations within the BJP, particularly between Modi and the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj. This tension has sowed some confusion about Indian policy on Nepal for the past three years.

Indian visitors in Kathmandu have sent conflicting signals while meeting Nepali leaders on issues like Nepalâs secular, federal and republican constitution. The external affairs bureaucracy in India with its intelligence agencies have been the architects since November 2005 of Nepalâs peace process that is now culminating with the constitution. The weakening of the secular Congress-Left could mean that the ascendant Hindu-RightÂ shakti peethÂ in New Delhi will try to reboot its policy on Nepal.

The new Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the high priest of the patron deity of Nepalâs former royal family in Gorakhpur. He has been disparaging about Nepalâs secular constitution, and has openly spoken about restoring the Hindu monarchy. Other BJP advisers have also made no secret of their antipathy to a secular and republican Nepal.

Political infighting in Nepal, the intractable confusion over amendments to the constitution, and some would say even the five-month blockade of Nepal in 2015 were a manifestation of secular leftists and Hindu revivalists working at cross-purposes in New Delhiâs corridors of power. Kamal Thapa and the Khum Bahadur Khadka faction of the Nepali Congress appear to be just foot soldiers in this proxy war.

Nepalâs cultural, linguistic, religious and ethnic diversity is Nepalâs national identity. How Nepalis want to define themselves should not change just because there is a new power balance in New Delhi.

Marcus Cotton: Elizabeth Hawley remembered…so many stories of the fearsome lady, the terror of mountaineers, etc., but I always found her the most charming, erudite and witty companion when visiting her Dili Bazar flat for lunch with Dudley Spain in days bygone or later just popping in to see her and report news from Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge – from her former days with Tiger Tops, she loved the news of the various lodges, guests and the staff. Ever sharp, she once told me ânever use two syllables where one will do; people write too much in Nepalâ! I sat in awe at her âpre-computer memoryâ (something she shared with Col. Jimmy Roberts of Mountain Travel) a near-total recall of facts, figures and other data minutiae that the coming of easy âfilingâ on computers seems to have atrophied. Elizabeth Hawley was also one of the most self-effacing people, truly interested far more in the world around her to see or assimilate the fascination she held for others. Her 90th...

Dhana R: It is true that “freedom is not free” but the collective sacrifice alone seems insufficient without individual honesty, simplicity, dignity, true patriotism, justice, and fairness to bring socio-economic prosperity. Ironically, both Nepal and South African leaders have repeatedly abused their hard earned posts and dragged their respective countries to the depth of hellish culture of corruption and social injustice. However, if Nepal could just learn from post-independent Singapore for some lesson and their socio-economic achievements over the years, we may change the history of our country in future to come.

PolinaAstakhova: Hello everyone. My name is Polina and I’m from Russia At the moment I’m in the process of writing my master’s thesis on the use of blogs in education. Could you help me a little? Just answer the question here in the comments. What do you consider the most beautiful place for travelling? It can be one place or several ones. I will be very grateful for your help. Beams of goodness all around, as we say in Russia.

Avishek Gyawali: In politics, it is said âNo one is permanent enemy or friendâ. In our case, #Nepal and #India could neither remain a friend nor an enemy, emerging Nepal-India relation into a special relationship. Also read and suggest : http://avishekgyawali.com/nepal-india-relation/

shj: To Anupam Bhutan is not a sell out like Nepal. They have remained one of the happiest countries in the world and tbey cherish friendship with India. Going with China will only harm them and they know that. Thats why Bhutan India treaty is in place. Smaller countries like Bhutan are better off dealing with China indirectly through India after Chinese are known for their coersive tactics especially dealing with smaller countries.

Anupam: It is an utter shame that âIndia lockedâ Bhutan cannot have relation with China! But things would improve should the B-I defence treaty be abrogated, India will have lesser border flash point headaches.

anup: I have high regard for Kunda, but in this instance I want to ask him few honest questions: A) When Nepal was made secular from Hindu rastra was there any kind of consultation or referendum from the general public apart from self proclaimed expert? B) Where were the secularist like you commenting when there was rampant convertion by missinories recently, never seen in Nepal’s history?

AJ Joshi: An article that all Nepalese must read. The only democracy in this age is a secular democracy. Trying to force caste ism (another name for Hinduism) down people’s throat will end up in disaster. Look at India, its shining jewel is its secular democracy despite having about a billion Hindus.

G Sharkey: Thank you for writing âConvenient Untruthâ. I think it is one of the most important and profound pieces Iâve read yet on the current situation.

Suresh Sharma: Kunda, unlike his usual self, has ended the blog with a one-liner bombshell. I hope this is an oversight, and he meant to include this one-liner in his column ‘backside’, but got in this blog inadvertently. CIAA became prone to the abuse by politicians because of the person, not because of the institution. The solution is not to scarp the institution, but strengthen the institution by finding the right person for the job. In the context of Nepal, the right person is the one who does not care for money or fame, but only to do the right thing. It may be difficult but not impossible to find such person.

GN: How about this title for your well written article? “Lokman Singh Karki’s authoritarianism and disdain leadership”

GN: What are the odds of Karki’s impeachment? If not, what is the next step?

Marjolaine Hohberger: Unfortunately Latin America has this experience it was the army and the Plan Condor killing/ disappearing the ‘ left’, mostly students’ movement and campesinos or farmers, Mexico same and to be a journalist is some kind of suicide. Since 94 I heard the same things they said in Peru ‘ stupid gringa you do not understand it has to be by the violence’ . In Nepal they say you do not understand nepali culture…but I witnessed a poor family move away in Kuleswor and I understood exactly where it came from, because I had witnessed it in Peru. We all saw young shitheads with new clothes being paid to pretend to be maoist. In Nepal are no maoist only corrupt gold diggers. I believe some leaders, unfortunately the followers do not defend the interest of the nation or poor people at all. They managed to discredit education by killing so many teachers, none of my children want to be a teacher! Instead they want to be cake delivery boy,...

Gretchen Belnap: Hello Mr. Kunda Dixit, I found this post very interesting, thank you. I work for an educational publication and we are looking for someone with expertise in Nepal for a paid project to review our Nepal report. Please contact me directly if you are interested. Best, Gretchen

GN: Nice, but I think the below title seems more suitable for your well written article. “IMPUNITY FOR ATROCITIES”

GN: A good title for the article could have been , “Opportunities (or challenges) for Prachanda” And please refrain from using big words in your article because majority of the readers prefer simple but touching word flow.

Utsuk Shrestha: I am tempted to write something in against of your argument especially your opposition to the Presidency. I think there is no point arguing the presidential system is undemocratic, albeit the nature of single authority implies the authoritarian leadership. I strongly disagree with your argument that “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The role of abuse investigation authority is exaggerated here in Nepal. The nation will know why this is the case in the future hopefully. We love democracy, democracy means tolerance and openness to criticism. An authoritarian leadership does not necessarily mean she is anti people and anti press. However, that may mean anti anarchy and headstrong policies which we think are good for a leader and signs indicating the ability to weather the storms.